Amid their relentless claims about forming Bihar’s next government at the expense of the other when the ongoing Assembly polls end, chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav keenly want the nominee of their respective alliance to win in the prestigious Phulwarisharif constituency near Patna.
Despite Bihar’s two top political arch-rivals having poured their personal and organisational might into planning and campaigning for the Phulwarisharif seat, the concentration of Muslims and the extremely backward castes (EBC) in the constituency has turned the electoral battle tantalisingly sharp and uncertain for candidates from the state’s leading alliances.
As Phulwarisharif goes to the ballot on Tuesday, all eyes are focused on well-known dalit leader and former minister Shyam Razak, who was the RJD chief’s “right-hand man” for over a decade before joining the ruling JD(U). After losing the 2009 Assembly bypoll in Phulwarisharif on a JD(U) ticket, the former three-term RJD legislator is trying his luck again in the constituency.
What makes the battle of ballots fascinatingly ironical is that the suave and articulate Mr Razak is pitted against the RJD’s sitting MLA Uday Manjhi.